Chapter 14: Chapter 12: Fool

A long time ago, when Al was in Eden. 

 

Al’s pov:

 

From what I’ve learned a month of school, it’s that there are some real dicks in the world, huh.

“The fuck was that for?”

“No I-”

“Huh!?”

I thought as some noble or another gets all up in random girl number 5’s face. Guess she must’ve bumped into him or something. 

At this point most of the teachers have just accepted that we’re in a military school, people are gonna get rowdy.

While this place has tons of richfolk, that doesn’t spare it from the poor who saved wherever they can to get here.

Quite the class divide, I’d say. 

And quite a few of the upperclass are very upset that their high end education has been replaced with the low budget lifestyle that we live, shit food and everything. I’ll give anyone three guesses as to who they take their anger out on.

Of course, I’d be bullshitting if I said ‘all’ rich people were dicks, given how there are some who just accepted the change. More like a big handful of really shitty entitled people that anyone with a brain avoids. 

“Hey jackass, you mind fucking off?”

I shouted.

“Huh!?”

“Yeah, you heard me, you dick.”

Um yeah, apparently I don’t have the brains to keep doing the same.

Maybe it was my ego driving me to stand up for someone just this once, maybe I just wanted to say something cool, something a main character would say. 

Minus the profanity, though.

And now him and his friends are in my face. Hey, at least the other kid is free now. Heroic moment I guess?

The strong stench of his cologne reached my nose, his teeth shined brightly as he snarled. You’d think someone as high-class and groomed as him wouldn’t associate himself with what he considers as vermin, but I guess people are just that petty.

“You have any idea who you’re dealing with? You want to tell that to me again?”

I stared back at him with a pair of dead eyes, looking as calm as possible. Not exactly a rat in a corner, but certainly not the best place to be in.

Inside though, I’ve got quite a dilemma on my hands.

I already know what I should do next. He’s in prime position. This is a scene in basically any school novel, the main character stares the school bully down. But…..

Am I sure I want to do this though? Do I really want to make an enemy out of this guy?

I spat in his face and kneed him in the balls, dropping him down to the ground.

“LIKE I GIVE A FLYING FUCK. I SAID IT ONCE I’LL SAY IT AGAIN: YOU MIND FUCKING OFF?”

Oh boy what have I just done.

I stood over him, waiting for him to strike back. I wasn’t exactly strong but there’s at least a few people willing to back me up here, right?

Instead of retaliating, him and his little squad just glared at me and left. 

Everyone was looking at me with all kinds of different emotions. Some shocked, others pitiful, even more of them impressed.

Yeah, alright, that was probably a mistake. 

I can’t help but laugh inside at my naivety, knowing how fucked I am now that I’ve messed with them. Maybe how fucked we all are, if they take their revenge on all of us.

Well, I’ve already gone this far, might as well commit to it.

“You're welcome, everyone!”

Whatever emotion they had was replaced with disbelief, they either think I’m incredibly brave or incredibly stupid. 

To be honest, it’s probably a mix of both.

Though truly, what have I done, and what’s going to come?

 

Afternoon classes began as usual for a Friday. After warming up we were told to pick our pairs for 1 on 1 combat, so I did what I usually did and looked for any stragglers.

After a bit of searching, I noticed that they were all apparently taken

“Um, I don’t have a partner.”

I called to the teacher

“I’ll partner with you then.”

Someone towered behind me. 

Oh lord.

I looked back to see John, and while I don’t know much about him, what I can tell you is this guy’s massive. Arms twice as big as mine, and at least a head or two taller. His bald head glistening in the sunlight, this guy’s practically an ogre with a different skin colour. 

I looked around to find that the guy I pissed off, along with his friends, had partnered up with the stragglers.

Well fuck. This is his revenge, huh. 

“Alright, let's start.”

The teacher, Bridgets, went over to the benches to watch over us, leaving me with this beast of a guy here.

Actually, wait, if the teacher’s watching over us, we should be fine.

Yeah, I mean, it’s not like he’ll just let a one sided fight happen.

I’ll just do my normal thing then.

I got into position, and so did John. 

Right after the teacher gave the signal, the guy rushed forward and punched me in the gut, knocking me back.

Pain bursted from my stomach as my lunch threatened to force its way back up. 

I wiped my mouth of the drool that covered it and forced the vomit back in. 

God damn that hurt. 

I held my stomach as I got back up. 

John over there spared no time as he came at me hard, striking me with his sword, straight in the nuts.

“Gah!” 

I crippled over. Shouldn’t the teacher have paused this by now?

I looked over to find him just standing there, smiling even, with an extra pouch tied around his belt as he watched. 

God damn, I really fucked up. Hard.

I thought as John ditched the sword entirely and began slamming his fists into me. 

Well fuck.

 

“Ow!” 

I yelped as the school doctor patched me up with healing herbs. 

“Hold still.”

The guy grunted.

“Then be more gentle.”

“You want your treatment or not?”

“Sorry…” 

I was brusied all over, with what feels like at least a few cracks in my bones. 

“Just get some rest and that’ll heal you up by tomorrow.”

“Alright.”

The doctor stared at me.

“Good lord kid, I’ve seen beatings before but never this bad.”

“Yeaaaaah, I kind of pissed off the wrong person.”

“That doesn’t sound very smart to me.”

“Well, I was pretty dumb to begin with.”

“I can tell.”

I limped out of there on a crutch they gave me. 

As I walked down the hall, I saw the girl the guy was picking on stare at me before turning away, pretending like nothing ever happened.

Yeah, I wouldn't want to get involved with a dumbass like me anyways. 

God damn, guess I’m all alone on this one, huh.

 

 

Splash.

A rush of ice took me out of my daze. I looked up to find the dick with a glass of water poured over me.

It’s been a few weeks since that and him and his cronies have been harassing me ever since. 

Fridays are especially horrible because they get to have that overgrown ape beat me to a pulp in front of everyone.

To be honest, they could probably have just fought me themselves and still won. 

I wiped myself off and ate my now even more tasteless and gray meat.

So this is my life now, huh. Sorry for having morals, I guess.

I thought as I stared forward.

There were still some people in line for food. Others were already done and chatting about, while the loners were just sitting there waiting for the bell to ring. 

The more serious students were practicing whatever they could, some swinging swords, while others doing magic.

Hmmmm….. 

Oh fuck I have an idea. 

It’s foolish, retarded even. There are hundreds of reasons for me not to do it.

I should just stay down, and he’ll move on eventually. I’m just gonna stir the pot even more, he’ll probably bite back harder, yadayadayada.

But I gotta say, if I can pull it off, I’m gonna look cool as fuck. 

 

After classes were over, I headed to the local library and borrowed a few textbooks on magic.

Thankfully, I was real naive as a kid and actually tried to do magic because I thought it would make me really cool. So I have some familiarity with it.

The plan is simple. I just have to get stronger, beat John, and show that I’m not one to be messed with.

Given how strength training doesn’t really matter when my opponent is someone built like a dragon, I have to tackle this from another angle. 

Best way I could think of is to pull something with magic, get him to trip on a rock, throw a fireball when he least expected, or something like that. 

And so, I headed back to my room and started practicing.

“Huff… huff….” 

I laid on my bed, dizzy. 

It seems I actually have a bit of talent for this kind of thing? Or maybe it’s just that I still remember how to do it back when I was in my hometown. Either way this isn’t too hard yet. 

Heck, I’m  able to make a fireball about the size of my fist given a minute or two. 

But that’s not going to be enough in an actual fight, and even if I could lower it to a few seconds, I might get too nervous and lose focus. 

Not to mention, having to wield a sword while thinking in magic is going to be hard.

The books only go into more complex stuff that I won’t need, so I guess all I can do is practise to improve.

 

Week 2.

And so came the training. For the days or so, the loop has been get up, school, rest a bit, practise magic. 

At this point, I’m starting to wonder if it’s even worth it, to sink so much time and energy just for some petty revenge. 

I really am just a moron, huh. 

But then the guy started bringing more of his friends into it, fueling the fire. Yeah no, I’m not giving up. 

You are reading story So I got a sword….. at novel35.com

“Done….”

Well, the training’s been paying off, as seen with the sizable piece of land in front of me. 

Got it down to a second’s worth of cast time, no swords yet. Earth seems to be the easiest for me to do, so I guess I’ll just improve on that.

That’s the easy part done, I suppose. 

Now to add swords to the equation.

Let’s go. 

 

Week 3

Behind the equipment shack, where no one can spot me, I lay in the cold grass looking up at the moon, wondering why I even thought this was a good idea.

There’s a reason people don’t just study magic. I even gave up back then because it was too hard. 

Just trying to walk while doing magic takes a way bigger toll than when I practiced while sitting, let alone swinging a sword around.

“Hic”

Bile welled up in my throat. My vision began to blurry as I started to grow nauseous. 

I forced it back down, a tear forming in my right eye. I wiped it away. I’m just making my life more hell.

Well, I’ll just call it a night for now… losing my dinner would make practicing even harder. 

At least I’m still alive. If I’m alive, I still have energy in me. 

I’ve probably seen the doc more times

Gaaah.

Fuck dinner, let’s keep going.

 

Week 5

Now even more people are joining in, even the poor. Guess I’ve become the lowest of the low at school, huh. 

Yeah… there’s no going back. I’m getting used to moving with a sword now too, and I’ve spent too much time training not to make use of it.

At this point, I think I’ve pushed my body to the limit, but the cast time is getting shorter, down to ten seconds now. 

If I could just shave a few more seconds off of that and practise more, I’ll be in the clear.

I’ll be free.

I dragged myself up like a puppet with only one string attached and took stance in front of the piece of log I’m using as a training dummy. 

Let’s keep going. 

“Hurk”

I held my stomach before puke starts spilling out of my mouth. I fell back on my ass and looked up at the sky. 

Just get back up.

“But…. hic…. Why?” 

Tears started forming. I just want to go home. Turn back and go back to my rock hard bed, beside my parents. It can get cold, but the nights here are colder. 

I’ve never had many friends, but I could really use one right now.

I should honestly just give up. There’s nothing left in me anymore. The guy can keep being a dick. Have him bring more friends, I don’t care anymore. Just end it all.

But then what would be the point of all this torture?

I suffered so much, but for what?

Do I just let it go to waste?

Nope.

No way.

Never. 

I wiped my vomit and tears away. A cold wind blew past me, making me shiver.

I lit a fire ball to keep warm.

Well, I’m still alive, I guess……

Am I alive though?

No. I’m basically dead. 

They could send me to the frontlines right now and mistake me for a ghoul.

Well, I can still move so let’s keep going.

 

Week 7

“Done…”

I’ve finally gotten the hang of it. I finally don’t have to work myself till I drop. 

Now it’s just honing and perfecting it. The hardest part was finally over…

I sat in the grass, looking back at the moon, my best friend…. Sorta. 

At least he’s always watching. My pain, my torment, but also my successes. 

“HAAAAAAAAAAH!”

I’m free… finally. 

Tears began forming. I don’t bother to wipe them.

Were they out of relief? Joy? Or maybe I can finally let it all out?

Who knows. All I care about right now, is the fact that I’m finally free.

There’s finally light at the end of the tunnel.

Alright, let’s call it a night for now and work tomorrow. 

 

Week 8

Today’s the day.

My heart was pounding harder than ever. 

It’s time to see if what I did was worth it.

As always, it’s one on ones on Fridays, and they single me out again with John.

But this time, I’m ready.

“You ever get tired of this?”

I asked him.

“You’re the one who started it.”

He shrugged.

What are we, five?

Then again, nobles weren’t known for being mature.

“Well, that’s an ape for you, I guess.”

“And you’re the retard who poked them.”

“And you’re the dumbasses who can’t even take a bit of poking.”

“You really want to piss me off before your beat down huh.”

He smirked.

We’ll see about that.

At the very least, I stand a chance now. 

We took our positions. Bridgets gave the signal, and off we go. 

John swung for my head with his sword, a swing I don’t bother to block. 

Instead, I dodge under it and smack his chest with my own. 

He doesn’t even flinch as he slung his sword back for his next attack.

Now!

I launched a good cup’s worth of water at his face, forcing him to close his eyes. 

It worked!

And with all my might, I swung the sword. Right at the only place I know to aim for. The balls, of course.

Upon contact, the sword hit something hard.

Huh? That’s not how balls work. 

He still winced in pain, but not nearly as much as I’d expect.

If I had to guess, He put a metal plate in that area to protect against the off-chance this would happen. 

He wiped his face, revealing that his arrogant grin had been replaced with a face of rage.

I quickly made distance between us. Cat’s out of the bag now. 

“Careful now, you don’t want to look more like an ogre.”

“Shut the fuck up.”

Thankfully I didn’t stutter. I’m still a bit shaky that this plan actually worked.

He charged at me, filled with fury.

Perfect. 

I launched another ball of water, too early on purpose, allowing him to dodge.

“Dumbass.”

He stepped forward, only to trip on one of the mounds of dirt I rose the height of. 

I stepped to the left as he tumbled before me, raising my sword for the killer blow. His bald head glistened in the sun, shining bright as if begging me to hit it. 

And so I complied. Gravity working alongside me, I bashed with all my might. 

Once, twice, th-

“Stop!”

Someone tackled me down as I went for the third blow.

We both fell to the ground beside John as the noble, the guy who started it all, sat atop of me and began beating my face in. I should really have learned his name by now.

“What. the fuck. is wrong with you!?”

The taste of blood filled my mouth.

In response, I pushed him off and forced a water ball down his throat.

As he chocked on that, I moved in for the other thing I’ve been wanting to do.

The position was reversed now, as I was the one smacking him this time. 

“WHAT’S WRONG WITH ME? YOU’RE THE ONE BEATING THE SHIT OUT OF ME EVERY FUCKING DAY FOR WEEKS.”I roared with tears in my eyes.

Every punch, a revenge. For the endless torture I’ve experienced. For being punished for doing what I want. And hell, it feels fucking amazing. 

That is, until two more people joined in and held me down by the arms. 

The noble got back up, revving up his fists.

Hey hey, wasn’t this a one on one?

“Any last words?”

“Can I… at least ask for your name?”

He punched to his delight without answering as people dragged John away.

The doc’s going to be in for quite a sight, huh.

Fucking hell, what was the point of all that training if this was the end result?

Haha…. I really am a fool. 

 

Author’s note: so yeah, I’m still alive, don’t worry. A lot happened. Like, a lot a lot. Homework cranked up to high gear, translations I still gotta do, etc. Sorry. I originally intended to release this on my birthday (October 23rd) but the wifi cut out so I wasn’t even able to access the docs for a few days. Yeah, just my shitty luck that the moment I’m done with midterms this happens. As for the actual chapter, I originally intended for this to be an extra chapter but hell, since when was an extra chapter supposed to be longer than the main ones. I just wanted to shine some light on background context a bit, and show off the learning curve for magic. Anyways I hope you enjoyed and I thank you very much for reading.

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